[Anton]

Help please. My early potatoes have all flowered and I have started digging up a couple of rows to make space for other plants.  The leaves on a couple of plants have started to discolour a bit (otherwise the stalks and leaves look quite health). Could this be the start of potato blight (this early in the year!)?

I have attached a picture

[Hampshire Hog]

Looks a lot like blight to me I’m afraid.

[AnneB]

Based on that photo I don't think that looks like blight myself.  Blight spreads extremely quickly, so if it is, you will soon know.  I would have expected some indication on the stems too.
If the potatoes are ready I believe it is probably the foliage just dying back.

[Anton]

Thanks a lot for getting back to me. Much appreciated.

Anton

[Anton]

I now see (from looking at various articles) that blight is possible as early as June. But only about two or three leaves have started looking like in the photo over the last four days or so and my experience with blight in the past (which is why I started growing earlies and semi-earlies) is that the lurgy ravishes the whole crop within the space of a few days.

Anton

[Fisherman]

If the plants are mature enough (12 weeks plus) and you suspect blight you could remove the tops to stop it spreading to the tubers. I was pondering on doing this before blight strikes my last crop which it nearly always does. The weather is pretty damp here at the moment so I guess it won't be long!

I have also tried growing a few surplus greenhouse tomatoes plants outside for the last 3 years but they also got blight. Trying again this year but have stopped the plants at 3 trusses in the hope of getting a few tomatoes to ripen. Also trying a blight resistant cherry tomato called Lizzano.

Does anybody know if the UK Blightwatch / Blightspy websites are still working? I haven't received any email alerts recently and the Blightspy map is out of date!

[hasbeans]

Does anybody know if the UK Blightwatch / Blightspy websites are still working? I haven't received any email alerts recently and the Blightspy map is out of date!

Not sure if this works as I've not tried signing up.

https://www.syngenta.co.uk/blightcast

[Aunt Sally]

It looks like blight to me too.  But as they are earlies and have flowered they will be ready to lift.

Cut the tops off and leave the potatoes in the ground for about 10 days.  That will allow any spores to die before you lift the potatoes.  You don’t need to lift them all at once as they store fairly well in the ground.

[Fisherman]

Does anybody know if the UK Blightwatch / Blightspy websites are still working? I haven't received any email alerts recently and the Blightspy map is out of date!

Not sure if this works as I've not tried signing up.

https://www.syngenta.co.uk/blightcast

Thanks for that hasbeans. I signed up and they provide quite a lot of information especially for commercial growers. It advises when to spray, when not to, day risk categories i.e. no risk (no blight), medium risk (near miss) and high risk (full blight period). This Thursday and Friday are high risk days in my area. Pity we allotment folk can't get or use the spray.

[hasbeans]

Thanks for confirming it's worth the effort